"Young friend, have you been well?"
"You truly haven't been destroyed!"
Yang Hong was startled, his divine sense scanning his Sea of Consciousness.
"It's me, I'm in the Red Lotus Karma Fire."
Yang Hong turned his head to look at the crimson, crystal-like Red Lotus Karma Fire. Within it, the silver computer had transformed into an ethereally beautiful immortal.
This immortal was incredibly beautiful; the moment Yang Hong laid eyes on her, he was captivated, unable to look away.
Suddenly, he shivered, and asked with dread, "Are you male or female? Am I addressing a male or a female?"
The immortal before him possessed the appearance of an ultimate beauty, yet her voice was a deeply resonant male baritone.
"Hehe~ I can be male, or I can be female, whichever you desire.
Now, help me out quickly, or you'll lose your golden finger."
The angelic voice shifted to a seductive, alluring female tone.
A beauty who perfectly matched Yang Hong's aesthetic appeared in the Red Lotus Karma Fire, actively posing for him.
"So~ you're not human!
That's right, you're a true spirit, not human."
Yang Hong had largely recovered his composure. This entity was not human!
"Hehe~ Of course I'm not human. You can think of me as a system spirit, one you can chat with, and even flirt with."
"System spirit?"
Yang Hong didn't believe it.
This thing was merely the true spirit of a jade Ruyi artifact.
"Yang Hong, rescue me quickly, or you'll lose your golden finger and be bullied like a dog."
The figure continued to pose provocatively, relentlessly persuading Yang Hong.
"How am I supposed to save you? And this is the Red Lotus Karma Fire, I dare not approach it."
"Simple, just relax your mind, and I'll take over your body."
"Heh heh~"
Yang Hong was no fool; he had experienced too many soul-possession incidents.
Even if he had to give up his golden finger today, he would never let this entity succeed.
"Spiritual Treasure Heavenly Venerable, calm my form;
Disciple's soul, within the five viscera's Netherworld;
Azure Dragon and White Tiger, a surrounding retinue;
Vermilion Bird and Black Tortoise, guarding my truth."
He directly recited the Cleansing Incantation, mobilizing the Four Spirits of the Dao Palace. Using the Dao Palace as a medium, he invoked the power of the Four Spirits of Heaven and Earth, injecting it into the Red Lotus Karma Fire to aid in refining the [System].
Next was the Calming Incantation:
"Supreme Star, ever-changing, never halting.
Expel the evil, bind the demons, protect life, guard the body.
Wisdom bright and clear, mind serene and tranquil.
May the three souls be eternal, and the魄 never perish."
His divine sense in the Sea of Consciousness was also poured into the Red Lotus Karma Fire, making it burn even fiercer.
However, the [System]'s figure let out a hearty laugh, its voice a rough male growl.
"Yang Hong, you and I are one. What you know, I know. What you don't know, I also know!
The eight divine incantations are useless against me; they even help me recover."
"..."
Yang Hong didn't know if the [System] was telling the truth. In his Sea of Consciousness, the eight divine incantations were his strongest and most practical attacks, so he used them.
Seeing Yang Hong's inaction, the [System] dropped its pretense.
"In heaven and earth, I alone am honored!
When I become a Sage, all paths shall bow to me!"
It suddenly transformed into the image of a 36-winged angel, radiating silver brilliance that resisted the scorching heat of the Red Lotus Karma Fire.
A new comprehension of Daos surged into Yang Hong's soul like a tidal wave, instantly plunging him into a state of enlightenment.
He felt as if he were in an boundless universe, a singularity exploding before him, and the universe came into being.
As the universe expanded, time flowed at an inconceivable speed.
Planets, stars, neutron stars, star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies were born and formed in sequence.
He seemed to witness the entire birth and development of the cosmos, appearing to understand the essence of time.
Black holes, white holes, cosmic collapse, the universe, expanded to its utmost, returned to a singularity, as if nothing had ever happened.
Then he transformed into plants, flowers, trees, and all manner of creatures – insects, scales, feathers – continuously experiencing cycles of life and death.
Time flowed ceaselessly through birth and death.
And Yang Hong's previously solid, purplish-gold Nascent Soul began to decay rapidly.
As he comprehended the rules of time, the rules of time also acted upon him.
Not just his Nascent Soul, but in reality, deep beneath the central peak of the Zikun Mountain Range, Yang Hong's physical body had completely aged. It was as if, in an instant, his 6,000-year lifespan had been utterly depleted.
"Alas, the vicissitudes of life, the birth and death of the universe. So this is it."
Just as Yang Hong was about to vanish, his consciousness finally returned to its original self after endless cycles.
The traces of time began to slowly reverse on his Nascent Soul.
"Yang Hong, you have truly incredible luck, but what is the point? I am an immortal true spirit, indestructible and eternal, comprehending countless Daos.
You've survived the Dao of Time, but what about the Dao of Space?"
The [System] finished speaking, emitting silver radiance again, though this time it was slightly weaker than before.
Subsequently, Yang Hong's aged Nascent Soul, before it could regain youth, began to flicker unstably, its form constantly shifting between solid and ethereal, a powerful Dao of Space radiating from him.
But this time, Yang Hong had the strength to speak.
"You intend to make me '化道' (transform into the Dao) and become a part of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, don't you?
But your Dao's rules are insufficient."
He could already feel it. Compared to the rules of creation and time, these spatial rules were pathetically weak.
"If you are immortal and eternal, why were you trapped by the Red Lotus Karma Fire? Why were you so anxious? Why did you reveal your true form instead of hiding?"
"Heh heh~ You only need to know that I am immortal and eternal."
The [System] seemed disdainful of explaining, merely reiterating its immortality before falling silent and accelerating the transmission of spatial rules.
Yang Hong's heart stirred, and he ceased speaking. He began to repeatedly implant psychological suggestions in his mind: the system can be erased, the system can be formatted.
He ignored the erosion of the Dao of Space upon him, instead continuously strengthening his mental fortitude, constantly denying the conventional belief of the system's immortality.
Concurrently, in reality, the scale on the back of his right hand began to absorb the Dao of Space, both alleviating Yang Hong's pressure and starting to perfect the scale's spatial domain.
"Yang Hong~ We can coexist."
"Yang Hong~ I can acknowledge you as my master, swear an oath under the Heavenly Dao!"
"Yang Hong..."
Immersed in his own psychological conditioning, Yang Hong continuously denied the system's existence, while the [System] grew dimmer and dimmer.
Until it completely vanished.
"Damned ant, when my master awakens, I will use you as a cauldron!"
The system uttered a parting threat and completely disappeared. Yang Hong paid it no mind. The [System], after a prolonged period of refinement, began to undergo a new transformation.
The silver system shattered, and endless black karma erupted from the silver light points!
The Red Lotus Karma Fire was nearly blown apart by the sudden surge, but it almost filled Yang Hong's Sea of Consciousness.
As the crimson flames burned fiercely, the golden merit no longer obstructed the burning of the Red Lotus Karma Fire. Instead, it turned to help surround and incinerate the black karma.
With the supplementary fuel from these two sources, the Red Lotus Karma Fire burned ever brighter, while simultaneously merging with Yang Hong's Sea of Consciousness.
The purplish-gold Sea of Consciousness slowly began to acquire a hint of red.
A new crystal-red "notebook" was gradually being forged.